Is Walkability a code word?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems people on DCUM who are mainly married couples want walkability to restaurants and bars.

Is it because they are alcoholics or drinks who can’t get in a car after going to a bar?

Are they swingers who want to bring other couples back from nearby bars and restaurants close by?

This is a silly post, but I will answer honestly. Having to get in the car in order to go anywhere makes me feel like a prisoner in my house

Ugh, what's even worse is visiting family in places where you can't leave without a car. They pick you up at the airport and then effectively hold you hostage for a week. We wrote up a guide to walking and getting around our neighborhood so that visitors can feel more comfortable exploring the city on their own. People seem to appreciate it, and they come back regularly.

So yeah, I guess walkability helps make us more popular.

This is real. This is exactly what is stressful about visiting both my family and my ILs.

Though ironically, when our parents visit us, they are afraid to walk around our (nice! expensive!) neighborhood because they are so unused to walking around that it all terrifies them -- the sounds, the proximity of other people, etc. So they hole up in our apartment the entire time. It's depressing.

Omg YES. This is exactly us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


This is a silly post, but I will answer honestly. Having to get in the car in order to go anywhere makes me feel like a prisoner in my house

+100000

+1000000

[Anonymous]

To me, walkability is code for a left leaning transplant moving to the big city who wants a faux city experience as much as possible in a suburb because it's so exciting to move to DC. But not really in DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To me, walkability is code for a left leaning transplant moving to the big city who wants a faux city experience as much as possible in a suburb because it's so exciting to move to DC. But not really in DC.

It sounds like you are referencing a specific person or type of people you hate. Either way, this says more about you than anything else.
For many people (i.e. Europeans) walkability is an expectation. An evening stroll like a passieggiata is a cherished part of the culture.

Many, many foreigners live in the DC metro area because they were sent here for jobs. Many of us don't drive because we never had to. For example, many Japanese families live in apartments near Woodmont triangle in Bethesda. The men have diplomatic or academic posts and the wives don't drive. Downtown Bethesda works for them and doesn't require car ownership

Married couples desiring walkability are not necessarily Americans from Podunk towns excited to live in the big city. We come from big cities... Big cities in other countries with walkable city centers.

Sincerely,
Someone who begrudgingly moved here from Europe because of my spouse's job

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To me, walkability is code for a left leaning transplant moving to the big city who wants a faux city experience as much as possible in a suburb because it's so exciting to move to DC. But not really in DC.

It sounds like you are referencing a specific person or type of people you hate. Either way, this says more about you than anything else.
For many people (i.e. Europeans) walkability is an expectation. An evening stroll like a passieggiata is a cherished part of the culture.

Many, many foreigners live in the DC metro area because they were sent here for jobs. Many of us don't drive because we never had to. For example, many Japanese families live in apartments near Woodmont triangle in Bethesda. The men have diplomatic or academic posts and the wives don't drive. Downtown Bethesda works for them and doesn't require car ownership

Married couples desiring walkability are not necessarily Americans from Podunk towns excited to live in the big city. We come from big cities... Big cities in other countries with walkable city centers.

Sincerely,
Someone who begrudgingly moved here from Europe because of my spouse's job

+1, only in the US is walkability considered an affectation instead of just a necessity for life. Over 50% of the world's population live in urban areas. Only 18% of people on the planet own cars. Most human beings are walking, biking, or taking public transit to work, school, the grocery store, etc. Walkable cities are not something they learned about from watching sitcoms based in New York City -- it's just normal.

[Anonymous]

I think alcoholic is a little strong but I do think some people who stay in the city longer after kids are doing so out of an effort to maintain a "kids haven't changed my life that much" image and way of thinking of themselves. That often does include things like taking a two-year-old to happy hour, which sounds like this suburban mom's hell. But whatever - different strokes for different folks!

Many of these people flee to Bethesda and North Arlington when their kids hit school age.

[Anonymous]

I think that people of financial means who have kids & are living in neighborhoods with terrible schools in DC are immature & have their priorities out of wack.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To me, walkability is code for a left leaning transplant moving to the big city who wants a faux city experience as much as possible in a suburb because it's so exciting to move to DC. But not really in DC.

I’m a transplant and love walkability and I’m republican.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think that people of financial means who have kids & are living in neighborhoods with terrible schools in DC are immature & have their priorities out of wack.

Why if the kids attend private?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think alcoholic is a little strong but I do think some people who stay in the city longer after kids are doing so out of an effort to maintain a "kids haven't changed my life that much" image and way of thinking of themselves. That often does include things like taking a two-year-old to happy hour, which sounds like this suburban mom's hell. But whatever - different strokes for different folks!

Many of these people flee to Bethesda and North Arlington when their kids hit school age.

Moving to the suburbs does not resolve this. Many parents bring their small kids to the suburban brew pubs. Ruins the atmosphere. I wish it did make them more responsible but it just doesn’t unfortunately. There is nothing for their kids to do at the brew pub and the kids are bored.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:White rocks in the front yard are the sign you’re looking for

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Walkability is a codeword for "I'm too poor to have a car and a house with a garage so I pretend it's because I'm hip instead of a loser"

100000% this!!

Total opposite. Price per sqft is highest in walkable areas.

No it’s not. My neighborhood is marginally walkable and no area matches our price per square foot. None.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Walkability is a codeword for "I'm too poor to have a car and a house with a garage so I pretend it's because I'm hip instead of a loser"

100000% this!!

Total opposite. Price per sqft is highest in walkable areas.

No it’s not. My neighborhood is marginally walkable and no area matches our price per square foot. None.

Which zip code?

[Anonymous]

Quite the opposite. We live downtown because we don’t own a car.

[Anonymous]

Our house is walkable to about 15 different boutique exercise studios/gyms/pilates/yoga centers.

Lots of coffee shops, restaurants, our dentist, movie theater, metro stop, parks, dry cleaners, shops, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods,

We do like being about to walk to dinner, have a few drinks but now that we are 50 we aren't hitting the bars, but my nephews will sleep in our basement if they come to the area and are out bar-hopping. I assume in the future my now teens will like the location for that same reason. A lot of older kids in grad school are back home.